An approach for chronic issues in horses or the path to your new career as a horse health coach. Dr. Gabi Gross, PhD., retired Veterinarian and Equine nutritionist introduces aspects of FIONA (Functional Integration of Natural Approaches), the basis for horse health coaching. This presentation is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to represent or replace veterinary treatment.

Over the last few decades and across all borders, thousands of horse owners have made use of this method successfully to get rid of chronic issues in their horses with orthomolecular nutrition. This is nutrition which reaches the body cell. For certain reasons which can easily be resolved, most nutrition does not get absorbed into the horse's body and remains unused.

Complete Equine body makeovers are not unusual while the underlying root cause for chronic issues is being addressed, issues which do not respond or only poorly respond to conventional Veterinary treatment, such as hoof problems of any kind, thrush, white line disease, skin problems, allergies, digestive issues, metabolic and endocrine issues, Cushings, PPID, behavioral problems, anxiety and lack of performance to name a few.

Horse health coaching is NOT Veterinary treatment. As a team, the horse health coach and the horse owner develop an individual feed and supplement chart through which the horse can activate self-healing mechanisms. This approach is drug-free and takes time, usually about 90 to 120 days. It can be done remotely worldwide or in person at the stables.

While conventional Veterinary medicine is necessary yet mostly addresses symptoms with medication, in a horse health coaching program the underlying causes for those symptoms are identified and over time removed, leading to activation of the horses self-healing energy. It's is essential for the success of the program to orchestrate with diligence exactly how much of what, when and how something is to be fed according to the nature of the horse.

Which brings us to the question what is truly natural for our horses. Naturally, through most of the day, horses are constantly moving and burning calories. If you would deem it natural that your horse has to eat all day, consequently it should be on a treadmill in the stall to burn the excess calories to avoid creating metabolic issues.

Another false belief is that our pastures are natural. Ironically, the soil in the areas with the biggest horse populations in the country is far away from being natural and produces mineral deficiencies with serious consequences. Many problems are created by neglecting evolutionary principles. Five thousand years of domestication have not changed the horse body which has been the same in Millions of years of evolution. The horse's inner body still acts like it is out in the wilderness and cannot cope with many feed and management practices. Chronic gastric ulcers and hindgut issues result from this lack of understanding. There are simple ways to solve this dilemma.

Our expectation on horses as athletes brings health management to a tight rope walk in the effort to optimize performance on one side while honoring the nature of the herbivore on the other. Horse health coaching programs empower peak performance while removing the root causes for ulcers and anxiety naturally.

Feed is what is eaten, nutrition is what gets to the body on a cellular level. Our domesticated horses, living in an evolutionary non-adapted body need special help getting this accomplished. Not helping our horses with this task results in chronic stomach ulcers, hindgut issues, anxiety and lack of topline and performance.

All this science goes into the design of a one-page recommendation sheet, the chart to rebalance your horse's health.

The take away message for you is that you do have access to a new approach for horse health, either in-person or remotely, that you can empower yourself by learning how to heal your horse yourself from many chronic issues which have a root cause that can be identified and once the root cause is removed, your horse can activate self-healing mechanisms.

Thank you for watching.

Dr. Gabi Gross, PhD
[email protected]